Cats in Art: Girl With Cat II (Marc)

(Sorry that this is late, but you'll like this enigmatic painting)

 

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I'm using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

This is my seventh post on Franz Marc (1880-1916), a key German painter whose life tragically ended early on the Western Front in 1916. This will be a multi-week series (I am still uncovering his cat works).

 

Image credit The Atheneum, here. Girl With Cat II, Franz Marc, 1912, oil on canvas, 28" x 26", held in a private collection).

 

Again we see Marc's use of simple strokes and bold, primary colors.  And a couple of other details pop out at me:

 

--The cat is an almost fox-like kitty, given the rusty reddish color and the vaguely canine-contoured face. Be that as it may, the kitty seems 90%relaxed, but the body posture still bears a hint of "I could still bolt if this doesn't work out."

 

--The enigmatic woman seems very Madonna-like in her posture.  This theme could well have been emulating a classic Renaissance-era painting of Mary with the Christ child.

 

--And the woman's smile: did Mona Lisa like kitties?  Plus check out her hands: large and pale, yet loving and tender.

 

--Last, the buttons on her dress: big, bold, many.

 

All in all, a rich image with much to think about.